Weak Response

I was amused by this piece in the West Bend Daily News in response to my column about Doyle giving a handout to the trial lawyers by increasing the minimum requirements for car insurance.  The most fun part of it is that it was written by an attorney who does accident claims and stands to personally benefit from Doyle’s proposal.  Oh, and he has a penchant for lefty politicians. 

The crux of his argument is this:

In 1982 an average car cost was $9,980 and the minimum property damage limit was set at $10,000. So, why in 2009, when the average price of a new car is nearly $23,000, does the insurance industry (or Mr. Robinson if he thought about it) think raising the limit to $25,000 is inappropriate?

Costs went up so insurance minimums should increase too, right?  Perhaps, but since insurance isn’t required in Wisconsin, it doesn’t really matter.  It’s a valid argument, but moot if insurance isn’t required.  But it also doesn’t refute my argument.  My argument is that Doyle’s proposal is a gift to the trial lawyers who stand to benefit financially from it.  Mr. Doherty never addresses the point. 

He goes on to say:

In Mr. Robinson’s example of the $500,000 damages and only $25,000 in coverage, who does he think is paying those uninsured costs? When people don’t have enough insurance to cover damages they incur, the bill gets shifted to health care companies, Medicare, BadgerCare and, you guessed it, ultimately the taxpayers.

In some cases, yes.  But much of the time, the person injured pays the cost.  Furthermore, that person can sue the person who caused the accident civilly.  We already have a system to rectify the situation without ramping up the cost of insurance. 

In total, he mentioned my name seven times in his piece.  Obviously, the goal was not to argue a point, but to attempt to discredit my column with redirection.  In that goal, he failed, because he never actually refuted my point.  I hope Mr. Doherty enjoys his increased standard of living at the expense of Wisconsin’s auto insurance customers.